Who We Care For
Our outpatient clinical services include clinic-based consultations and ongoing care, as well as gastrointestinal procedures and motility testing. Our team is dedicated to research that advances the field and training the next generation of gastroenterologists.
We Focus on Caring for Adults with the Following Conditions
Given the high demand for gastroenterology services, we must focus on serving adults with complex conditions who benefit most from our team’s expertise, collaborative care, and clinical trials. To refer patients with these conditions, please follow the instructions here.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease- We care for patients with complex inflammatory bowel disease.
- We care for patients with complex eosinophilic esophagitis, Barrett’s esophagus, and complex issues with swallowing.
- Our advanced resection team specializes in:
- complex endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR)
- endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)
- POEM (Peroral endoscopic myotomy) – esophageal, gastric, and for Zenker’s
- STER (Submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection) – for highly selective esophageal and gastric lesions
- EFTR (Endoscopic full thickness resection) – for highly selective colon polyps
- We see patients with complex liver conditions including MASLD, alcohol-related liver disease, viral hepatitis, autoimmune liver disease, as well as patients with cirrhosis.
- There are specialized multidisciplinary clinics to help manage liver transplant evaluations as well as liver malignancies and managing patients with alcohol-related liver disease.
- We specialize in complex ERCP (diagnostic and therapeutic), EUS ( diagnostic and therapeutic), single balloon enteroscopy, luminal stents, and inpatient daytrip consults
- Patients with a strong family history of colorectal cancer, or other characteristics concerning for having a genetic high-risk gastrointestinal cancer syndrome. For these patients, we work with a genetics counselor to have face-to-face genetics counseling and coordinate surveillance strategies.
- We are one of only three North Carolina centers who work with a stool bank to provide fecal microbiota transplant for patient with severe, refractory or recurrent C. We coordinate care with our infectious diseases colleagues in a multidisciplinary way.
- We care for patients with diverticulitis and work with colorectal surgeons to care for these patients in a multidisciplinary way.
- We care for patients with gastrointestinal alpha-gal syndrome and work with UNC allergists and nutritionists to care for these patients in a multidisciplinary way.
Click below to learn more about particular focus areas.
We Are Unable to Routinely See Adults with the Following Conditions
To ensure access for people with high-priority conditions, UNC Faculty Practice gastroenterologists do not routinely see adults with the following conditions. These problems are usually well-managed by a primary care providers or other specialists.
- Disorders of Gut Brain Interaction: Due to limited capacity, we must decline any patient who lives out of state or has been seen by an academic gastroenterologist in the last 3 years.
- General GI Group: Due to limited capacity, the general GI group is not currently accepting second opinions for patient who are actively being seen by another gastroenterologist for nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc. we are not accepting complex gastroparesis patients.
- Total parenteral nutrition (TPN): We are not equipped to manage/see TPN patients at this time.
- Our pancreaticobiliary team are not equipped to manage/see:
- Chronic pancreatitis without endoscopic treatment target, including management of chronic pancreatitis pain
- Incidental pancreaticobiliary findings with primary reason for referral being unrelated, possible GI symptom
- Pancreaticobiliary disease that resolves but with persistent non-pancreaticobiliary GI symptoms/illnesses
- Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency alone, without other needs
- we do not offer retrograde single balloon enteroscopy or double balloon enteroscopy and those referrals should all be sent to Duke.